Parent application Ser. No. 51,390 discloses techniques for the sterile welding of plastic tubes wherein a pair of tubes are placed in pockets or grooves of a pair of spaced apart tube holders. A cutting device, such as a wafer, moves into the space between the tube holders to completely cut through both tubes. The tubes are then off-set from each other and pressed into contact after being heated so that the end of one tube section becomes welded to the end of another tube section.
While the techniques disclosed in parent application serial no. 51,390 are quite effective as a means of connecting one tube section to another tube section, there is sometimes a need to simply seal a tube without joining it to another tube. This need occurs, for example, where a tube is used in a laboratory as a conduit and then after its use it is desired to obtain absolute seal integrity.